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Alisha Green
For integrative studies in physical sciences professor Sifa Ngasala, the United States has turned out to be different than he expected, but it has also been a learning experience that he has enjoyed. Ngasala was born and raised in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, which lies in a coastal region near the Equator. Recalling life there, he said, “We are poor, but we are happy, because at least we live in peace compared to our neighboring countries.” His father was a lawyer and his mother a housewife who kept busy taking care of Ngasala and his six siblings. He attended the University of Dar es Salaam, where he earned a bachelor’s in natural science and geology. “I took geology because since 1990 our country experienced a big boom in the discovery of minerals, especially gold,” he said, adding that he knew the major would mean job security. When he started working towards his master’s at the same university, there was a group of people from the United States who told Ngasala’s professor that he could choose one student to come work with them. Ngasala was chosen and asked if he would be interested in doing his doctorate work at MSU. He applied for enrollment and was accepted. “Getting that chance was like a dream come true,” he said. He had six months to prepare to come here, and in that time tried to find out information about MSU and the East Lansing area by surfing the Internet. The most difficult part for him was leaving his wife, whom he met in college, and his two young daughters. “It was very difficult [to leave]. My kids were one and two; I wanted to see them all the time,” he said. The United States was very different from what he expected. “When you are [in Tanzania], what you know, what you see about the U.S. and other developed countries is what you see on television,” he said. This often meant seeing a lot of celebrities and Hollywood. He thought there would be a lot of big cities here, and was surprised by the large farms. As far as the people here, he had in mind people like Puff Daddy who frequented television in Tanzania. “All those people you see on television: it’s what you get in your imagination,” he said. Although the people are different from what he imagined, he said that all of the people are very nice here. The transition to the United States was difficult in some ways. He said, “My country was a British colony, so my English was very British. Coming here, it was like I started learning English again.” Ngasala had help in making the shift to life here. “The good thing was that we had a very good orientation,” he said. The International Center had an orientation program that lasted for one week and covered a wide range of topics about life at MSU. The center also set up contacts for students with others from their country, which has helped Ngasala develop new friendships. He said that one aspect of MSU that he really likes is that there are so many international students as well as students from all over the United States, so he can see the different cultures within our country. He has enjoyed his time here and plans to stay until he finishes his studies. After that, he is not sure whether he will stay here or go back to Tanzania and said it depends on where he receives a job offer. Since his doctorate is in structural geology, he may work in the petroleum industry or with mining companies, but he is also considering becoming a professor because he enjoys doing research. He said that sometimes in certain jobs “you don’t explore, you don’t learn new things,” but teaching and doing research would allow him to continue the learning process. Discussing stereotypes that he saw of the United States in his country, Ngasala said, “One stereotype which I think Africans have of the U.S. is that it is a developed country, so everybody will be the same level and have good standards of life. Then you come here and you see there are some poor people.” In his time here he has also noticed stereotypes that Americans have of Africa. “I think the problem with the media is what the children here in America see about Africa – they see war, they see conflict,” he said. “When you talk about Africa they think that maybe you are talking about wildlife or conflict. It’s not true. There are so many other things we have, so many good things that are going on.” Questions? Comments? Contact Alisha Green at greena11@msu.edu |
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